Airtel Marketing Case Study

Introduction

For a long time, the term marketing has mistakenly been mentioned in the same breath as advertising, promotion, and product publicity. Quite contrary to common misconception, marketing is more of a science than the creative arts that are advertising and promotion. For this reason, marketing is a little more complex than the abovementioned concepts. Fundamentally, marketing entails carrying out extensive market research, and applying the findings of such research to come up with the most effective strategies – tactical applications that seek to place the organization or product in a favorable position. Among the most essential and most appreciated marketing strategies is rebranding. It is a powerful strategy in which a novel symbol,

Foremost, it is clear that rebranding ties the marketing function to the long term strategy of the organization. I n straightforward terms, the concept of rebranding makes the marketing function one of the key drivers of organizational success. According to Dubey and George (2012) rebranding is an essential rebranding tool used by small, middle and large firms in managing their image as perceived by the customers. Using the case study of Airtel – a huge telecommunications multinational – Dubey and George (2012) explain that rebranding is one of the most effectual way of repositioning an organization. Airtel considered rebranding after a massive acquisition of a number of telecommunication firms in the global market. In the case of Airtel, rebranding was purely used for the purposes of repositioning – giving it a new place and identity on the international

Differentiation is a marketing concept whose primary aim is to make an organization ‘stand out from the rest’. An organization using differentiation strategy seeks to attain some degree of uniqueness – features that make it appear different and often superior to the rest of the industry players. A good example of a case that adopts rebranding as a differentiation strategy is where an organization adopts a green culture and changes its name, symbol or design to that effect. Ryan (2013) argues that rebranding can be used to incorporate environmental consciousness in an organization’s profile. For instance, he explains that an organization that desists from selling milk from cows, whose hormonal setup has been artificially modified, may use rebranding to create awareness among its existing and potential